1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an absorbent material and, more particularly, to such an absorbent material which readily absorbs oil but not water or aqueous solutions.
2. Description of Related Art
Various materials in the past have been found useful for absorbing oil, one of which includes organic fibers for trapping the oil in the interstices formed between the fibers. However, these known materials in addition to absorbing oil also have the undesirable capacity for absorbing water or other aqueous solutions which reduces the oil absorption efficiency. For example, in the case of catastrophic oil spills, a substantial proportion of the oil is to be found floating on the surface of a body of water and attempted absorption to remove the oil by a medium must contend with the possibility of the medium becoming thoroughly charged with water and, therefore, not able to efficiently absorb oil.
It is therefore a desideratum to provide a material which will efficiently absorb oil while at the same time exclude water and, in that way, maintain the oil absorption efficiency at a high level.
Moreover, a satisfactory material for removing oil from the surface of a body of water, should desirably have sufficient buoyancy so as not to sink below the water surface and thereby lose contact with the oil layer and, thus, lose the ability to further absorb the oil.